Fantasy Debate: Which Arsenal player doesn’t get the credit he deserves?
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Today’s topic:
song
No dogbt about this, all people are seeing is the brilliance
of fabregas but don’t seem to wonder why!! song has relieved him of all the defencieve chores which he even used to perfom during flamini’s era and on top of that song is doing it with style(the asenal way)
It absolutely beats my understanding why no 1 talks about monnone(buffon)he’s a kind of goal keeper i haven’t seen for so long.3clean sheets out of his first 4 competitive games…especially that 1-0 win against fulham. i think the reason why cassilas is considerd the world’s no 1 isn’t because he doesn’t conced but rather because of the saves he make in every game.our almunia is just good @concedind during every game, even though he doesn’t touch the ball for 90 mnts trust any exposure of the opponent in the the 94th mnt is a goal,don’t understand why he is our no 1????????????????????
Song
Defitnitely Bacary Sagna. Game in and game out, since he has come to the Emirates the Frenchman has been as consistent as a footballer can be. This year, with so many goals beng scored, it’s easy to overlook our #3.
Sagna’s crossing is getting better.
Against West Ham, Tottenham twice and Alkmaar he set up RvP with neat acuurate passes.
I haven’t read anyone giving him credit for that development in his game.
agree on Sagna – such a good consistent performer yet you dont hear his name being sung. He deserves some love and recognition from the fans!
Spoilt Arsenal supporter.
We are Arsenal supporters, so every Arsenal player needs absolute support, even when they play bad, lose confidence and score own goals. Every year we have this cycle, wild over confidence after 11 games, followed by wild pessistism about how the side is useless and not as good as the invincibles and if Wenger only bought this player then we would turn in a really great team.
Every year we turn on one poor sod, we boo them at home and make them lose even more confidence which surprisingly doesnt help them play any better.
Every year for the last three years around 250 players are suppose to be coming to the club, then wenger buys none of them and wenger buys someone we dont know and they are great ie Vermaelen (did anyone know about him before he arrived)
So the answer is EVERY arsenal player deserves more credit.
Definitely Song. He’s been brilliant this season. And Sanga has improved a lot too. Still a bit early though.
Agree with him…
Song An Ramsey!
@ 8.16am – Ooh. Bent out of shape for no reason. The guy asked who is the most underrated / undervalued player in the side, not who is the most shit. Every side in history has its stars and its ‘workhorses’. To take a relevant exmaple. Charlie George, Radford and Kennedy or Peter Marinello of the early 70’s side. But what about Peter Simpson or Peter Storey or Eddie Kelly?
David Rocastle and Charlie Nicholas of the late 80’s and early 90’s versus Paul Davis or Kevin Richardson. The point is every team has its heroes and also unsung heroes. That’s just the way it is.
You read too many other negative posts and jump at the first chance to defend. Admirable, but pick your arguments with the right people and not the author of this article.
I am split between Vela and Denilson. or possibly even Rosicky. But I go with Vela..brilliant talent and good performance whenever he is brought in to play, but the manager keeps forgetting him!! Denilson..absolute workhorse, excellent passing/ team game and keeps our midfield ticking..will be a big boost when he replaces Diaby. Rosicky is a genius, but forgotten for his injuries..mark my words..he will prove the difference when it really counts this year
diaby, he seems to be the scapegoat of any bad spell we have and its absolutely ridiculous, like for example on saturday at wolves, it wasn’t his fault that wolves put us under pressure first twenty minutes, it was ramsey’s ‘cos he was playing the song role and failed in that respect. he did well though when song came on he moved up. I remember some some dangerous attacking moves he was spearheading but his critics failed to notice those… shame
Vela is injured that’s why we haven’t seen much of him, plus he joined the party late due to international commitments. So, too early to call.
RVP doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Very few people have yet to realise the drastic change that he has made to his own game and how he has adapted so quickly to his new role to contribute so importantly and intelligently. Take RVP out of the team and notice how the fluidity and speed of attack changes. His speed of thought and awareness brings so many of his team mates into play.
Bendtner
I posso – Diaby was slow and ponderous against Wolves and lost the ball too many times in his own half, which put Ramsey and the defence under unnecessary pressure. As the ‘more experienced’ midfield player Diaby should have known better than to dither against a team which, let’s face it was all bluster and energy but one early slip up could have caused a potential upset (a trait often displayed by the team last year in the first dozen games or so).
Diaby has a few fine qualities – mainly attacking. His flaws concern his defensive qualities and positional sense off the ball and they tend to let his game down. Eradicate some of the basic errors and we have one hell of a player on our hands.
Ramsey is a different type of player. He likes to move the ball early and maintain momentum. To my mind, Ramsey should not be employed as a direct replacement for Song. They are not similar at all.
Do not use Ramsey’s defensive shortcomings to hide Diaby’s obvious flaws.
Gallas
john- don’t u think then that it was wenger’s fault in deploying ramsey in that role knowing he wasn’t particularly good there. diaby makes mistakes, granted, but so does everyone else, but he seems to be getting a lot of stick for his… i wonder why that is.. the guy is young and learning, constantly jumping on his back for every single error is not going to help his development.
it’s sagna – the only rock solid performer on the back line
diaby has a good shot and is a good finisher. the rest of his game is completely frustrating
i think song (although quite good) is actually slightly overrated right now.
vela – what has he ever done in an arsenal uniform to deserve praise?
Although Emmanuel Eboue was booed and jeered by The Arsenal fans at a certain time at the Emirates, he still maintain his loyalty at The Arsenal despite interest from Inter Milan and Roma. Talking about loyalty, he won hands down after comparing him with Adebayor and Toure.
I posso – Wenger has to accept some responsibility for altering the balance but thats an entirely different discussion. He thought that Ramsey could do the job provided everyone else did theirs. As I said Diaby has qualities that most people admire. But he’s 23 and that’s not young by comparison to other players in our midfield. His failings in the most basic of tasks and lapses of concentration from a midfielder’s point of view are exasperating i.e defending and positional sense off the ball. He’s erraticsm is overshadowed by the team’s overall form at the moment but have the potential to be exploited further down the line if he does not improve this side of his game. I would equate his performance at the moment as no better than, say, Lucas at Liverpool. OK, but not up to the standards expected.
Diaby earns little more respect, I always get a feeling that everyone hates him, but Wenger isn’t crazy, Diaby is in the line up for a reason, Wenger has soooo much experience so let him deside if Diaby is good enough or not…
Anyway I also think that Song, Denilson and Sagna need more credit for their game, Sagna is consistend, Song is the only pure CDM of CD who we have ( but still needs more experience, sometimes makes to big mistakes ), Denilson can also play CDM but is more a mixture of central defensive midfield and central midfield, so not pure CDM. Denilson often plays a solid game at the CDM / CM position, makes some little mistakes but often plays nice.
I wrote a comment about, Song on the last thread after the Wolves game! Song, has been the most improved player!!! Did you see the impact he made as soon as he came on the pitch when, Diaby was off due to injury? His presence in front of the back 4 is very critical to our season! Can we rely on him to do it all? No! But we can rely on him and have confidence when he is there to get the job done!
Song, has been by far the most improved player in the team! People were screaming how badly we needed a CDM. Little did you all know we already had one! He just needed to some time to adjust to it. Patience people!!!!
Song, wanted this job badly and he is proving it to The Boss and fans all over the world! Imagine, he is only getting better!
He deserves it!
Gunner for life!
paul, i thumbs-upped your sagna comment. he is THE MAN.
your vela comment, however, is in my opinion a bit harsh. sure, not a feature in the first team yet. he is a fine player with enormous potential. and, btw, he’s played some fine CC and FC cup games. or don’t those count anymore ? LOL!!
This season gallas and sagna have been excellent and not credited quite as much as some of the other top performers. Denilson was doing a great job as well before his injury maintaining a balance to the side.
Song and vermaelen have also been excellent but have received due credit from most people. Obviously theres been a tonne of other top performers playing further forward.
it has to be without a doubt; William Gallas. granted that Song (who is my favorite player) has improved tremendously; Gallas really has to be mentioned EVERY time we talk about the world’s BEST central defenders. he is incredible….playing with such a young squad and his offensive contribution is second to none. his ball control makes the likes of Terry and Puyol look like goal keepers
I repsect everyones opinion, but Gallas and others have been doing a great job at their positions! They already have a secure start to every game. It’s, Song who stepped up to the challenge and worked hard to get the CDM spot! Had The Boss purchased a CDM before the season started it would’ve KILLED, Song!!!!
Song, all the way!
Go Arsenal!
paul – vela’s performances have been the most exciting of any young player, I really think he is a future “henry” level forward, ten times more promising than theo, who is still a pretty good prospect. It’s frustrating that he hasnt been played more often, and that injuries have held him back.
I agree he shouldnt be included in this because he hasnt contributed anything to our form this season for the simple fact he has been injured for it.
Re: diaby – its ridiculously unfair to claim that his injury swung the game in our favour at the weekend, we held off the wolves early attacks (barely), but only really took control after the first goal. Song is better in that position, but its wrong to think that he would have prevented the early wolves onslaught. And diaby did an excellent job in a more defensive role last week against AZ – not the same role as song, but he played the CM position next to fabregas how I feel we need it to be played, with a bit of defensive responsibility and a bit of steel. (Saying that, ramsey did exactly the same against wolves.)
I would tend to think that Diaby’s injury did swung in our favour, not because Diaby was terrible (he was playing OK till then), but because Ramsey did not really have the physical presence in front of the back four (compared to Song). Ramsey did tackle tirelessly when he was playing in DM role, but still, when Song came in, the midfield area looked more solid defensively. When Song is playing, Fabregas tends to roam further up the pitch – indicating his and Wenger’s confidence in Song, not so when other players are playing DM.
Also, it is truly frustrating not to see Vela playing often, as what he lacked in pace (compared to Walcott), he certainly complements with the tricks that he has up his sleeves.
Yes, I agree that Song is the most improved player in the team. He is much better than Flamini as he knows when to hold on to the ball and when to releases it to players in strategic positions. It has been a long while since we had a CDM that passes so well. When Song is off for ACN, I feel that Denilson will be the best replacement (although not a perfect replacement) compared to the other players, but Denilson seldom passes forward, but sideways. Having said that, I feel that Song does get the credit that he deserves, as most people notice how significant he is to the side. IMHO, I feel that Bendtner does not really get the credit he deserves. His commitment and workrate this season has improved tremendously, not to mention he is holding the ball better and providing good aerial threat to the opposition. Pity he is sidelined.
Credits have been given to Song in most of the Arsenal Blogs. I don’t see him as the player which receives the least credit. I may agree with the other players but not Song.
awaiting moderation??
its definately song he has being working day in day out. when he was rested against wovles we saw d defensive midfield lacking when he came on d game was balanced.
I’m going to say Sagna and Gallas
I agree that Song has been a key member of our squad so far but I don’t feel that the “African German” (as Wenger referred to the Cameroonians as) hasn’t gotten his credit…Since the season started people have been rightly singing his praise (maybe last year he was under creditted though) Sagna and Gallas on the other hand have ben performing exceptionally well but receive little mention…maybe that’s because Vermaelen has been receiving all the credit given to the defense
Also I remember someone saying that people don’t realize how great RvP is and I have to agree. This guy is world class in creating and taking goals…He has played thd the main striker role amazingly this year…He and Cesc are undoubtedly our two best attacking players
But still, Sagna and Gallas are the two that aren’t getting the credit they deserve
DIABY gets so much stick from everyone and i really cannot see why. He’s a different type of player to EVERYONE else in the team, (as is eboue, as is song, as is Bendtner),and that is why his selection is valid and he is necessary for the squad. Seriously, as much as we all love nasri, cesc, ashavin and rosicky you would not win ANY football match with 11 players of their type. Diaby is, in my opinion, second only to arshavin as the most dynamic player in the squad- always looking to get forward and make things happen. You can see the criticism has affected him- he seems slightly more hesitant in possession than in previous seasons- but i think if you asked the other players in the squad they’d rate him, as Wenger does, very highly indeed
Oh yeah, and i would not swap RVP for any other striker in the world. In fact most of the squad, if you asked me to find someone i preferred in any position i would struggle
Arsene Wenger…
or maybe sagna ( :
Benjamin, good point..The Boss! He is the one who has kept this team as 1! He has made players that were never heard of into stars! Now, the best teams in the world want to pry some off of us!
BUT we are talking about players.
i would say gallas, sagna, denilson, song and bendtner.
But I would like to add, which arsenal players get more credit than he actually deserves?? My answer is Abou Diaby, cause he simply sucks and blind fans just cant seems to understand this, he sucks!!!
denilson , diaby , bendtner
I am really impressed by Denilson’s consistency and simplicity to his game. He doesn’t do any flourishes, just distributes the ball quickly and efficiently and safely. He gives a great flow to the midfield by providing a great target and a great reliever of pressure. Basically his game is almost like a Barca-style game of constant, precise passing. People critiicize Denilson for always “passing sideways”, which is absolute rubbish. If he passes sideways, it’s because he is usually calmly looking for open players, who frequently happen to pop up on the flanks.
Denilson also has a hell of a shot and a tremendous work rate. He got the manager’s trust to start almost every game last season for just that reason. He’s a reliable defender with a good tackling ability and a good ability to pressure and clean up on mistakes. Outstanding player — he’s been missed so far this season. I have no idea why he is underappreciated (and even down right despised) except for that he is less of a ‘flashy’ style player and he is a more traditional center midfielder, so he just attracts less attention.
Bentner did well this season even though he is injured now.
there are 3players who did improve a lot since last season.
Bentner-doesn’t lose the ball so easily and defends.
Song-Tremendous.since Denilson got injured,he did replace Denilson to the point where some fans did forgot about Denilson.
Diaby-Well minimum credit to him.but still have to mention him.he did well at start of the season but since the Man Utd game with his own goal he is not getting the best of himself.
We need top level in every EPL match.
Well for the others they got the credit they deserve.
Special mention to gibbs who is doing well on the left back.Like AW said “we are gifted with the left back”…
sagna
it’s got to be Denilson and Bendtner.
i go for sagna.very effective and consistent
SONG AND DENILSON, watch them last season and this season u can tell how fucking much they have improved. LIKE SO FUCKING MUCH!!! Song is like godlike, same way how Flamini became godlike, but i feel Song is better, in defending, flamini could attack better, ah sad i cant tell whose better.. HEY!! GUYS, whose better ,Song or Flamini, who’d u prefer. I always liked Flamini, He’s the real epitome of a “box to box” player. But Song’s defending and ball distribution is more fucking awesome, i cant decide.
Nicky B!
He may not score but he hustles, and I would take his hustle and style of play vs Ady anyday!
Jimmy, hahahaah! Good stuff!
When Flamini had a heck of a season I’d say Flamini hands down is better. But we didn’t see how he would respond to a 2nd season since he left to AC Milan for money! Song, well I can tell you this much…Song, will be a better player than Flamini as the season progresses. Flamini shouldn’t even be mentioned. I’m getting upset now!
Where is Flamini now? Last time I saw him he was warming the bench. Prove me worng.
Denilson, las year irritated me a bit, but at the start of the season I def saw some improvement. Too bad he got injured! As soon as, Song is gone to ACN Denilson will do just fine to cover for him! BTW, when is he back from injury?!
Go Gunners!
good post loft; totally agree.
Well, according to the comments on youtube, Flamini is having his fair share of game nowadays and is starting to be appreciated by Milan fans.
Song is really helping Fabregas shine(hence all the darn goals. Unlike the time with Flamini, when they both shone together. Hmm, now i wonder which partnership was better. LOL!! Yes, lol, Denilson the sideways passer, he irritated me too. I hope he can still keep his form, dont be reminding me of last season again, good at first, sucked in the middle of the season, then much better in the end after the likes of Fabregas returned from injury.
non
Its between these 4:
Now read this b4 you go wild on me, but arshavin is underated simply because hes overated. let me rephrase that. people reckon hes been inconsistant this season, but consider this. how many matches did arshavin make a run, destroy defences with ease, get in range of the keeper only to have nobody to pass it to. the amount of times that happened, could of easily put him top of the premiership assist list. NOT TO MENTION HE HAS BEEN IN THE WRONG BLUDDY POSITION ALL SEASON!
RVP: Not as an arsenal player, but as a world class footballer. had it not been for that injury he could of easily been competition for rooney and drogba in the striking department, which would also come encrusted in a bucketload of assists.
Sagna has easily been the joint hardest working man on the pitch with alex song, who actually held barcalona before been put in CB position. Sagna is relied on the right in defence, midfield, and upfront, and even has 5 assists to his name. Song is to the back what fabregas is to the front, and is probably more important than players who are rated higher than him.